Advertisement
X

Lewis Hamilton Like 'A Unicorn' At Styrian Grand Prix - Toto Wolff

After he stormed to pole position and cruised to victory in Sunday's Styrian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was praised by Toto Wolff

Watching Lewis Hamilton at the Styrian Grand Prix was like "seeing a unicorn" for Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. (More Sports News)

Reigning Formula One champion Hamilton stormed to pole position on Saturday, going over a second quicker than his closest rival in torrential rain in Spielberg. 

The 35-year-old converted that into a comfortable race victory 24 hours later, bouncing back from a difficult Austrian Grand Prix at the same track last weekend. 

Hamilton was handed a grid penalty just prior to lights out at the season-opening race, then was demoted from second to fourth following contact with Alex Albon. 

"I think I've never seen anything like this in a top class of motor racing. It's like seeing a unicorn. Yeah, that was exceptional," Wolff told Sky Sports of Hamilton's display. 

He added: "I think we can be very satisfied with this weekend. Tremendous job from everybody and also getting our worries from last week under control. 

"I think everything has been said about Lewis' talent and his abilities. Sometimes we all need weekends like the last one, where you just work very hard to try to recover. When he's in that space he's just unbeatable." 

Hamilton was among a majority of drivers, all of whom wore t-shirts bearing the message "end racism", to take a knee at the front of the grid prior to the national anthem being played. 

However, some drivers arrived late and others remained standing, continuing discussions about the lack of a unified front being displayed in F1. 

"I think we have to be non-judgemental. None of the drivers, even the ones that are standing, are racist. I think we need to respect everybody's point of view," said Wolff, who knelt along with the rest of the Mercedes garage. 

"I think where we come from is that being not a racist but staying silent is not enough. But I don't want to judge what people do because we might not know, he might not kneel but maybe he does some good stuff in the background. 

"This is not a one-weekend PR stunt. We have not painted the car black for one weekend. 

Advertisement

"Some guys said, 'Well, we knelt last week'. Well this is not over. This is just the beginning. And it's against racism, it's for more equality, for more gender diversification and just continuing the momentum of that, and that doesn't stop with one weekend. 

"We are going to push the momentum for the good cause." 

Show comments
US